The End of the Ice Season

By Cody Hill of CHill Guide Service

Ice conditions in the area are deteriorating rapidly. The end the ice season is here. Fishing guide Cody Hill was out last weekend and reports there is a foot plus of slush on some lakes and if you don’t have a tracked vehicle, you will be getting stuck sooner or later. Here is his full report.

I have been able to do a few morning trips taking people tullibee fishing recently. It has been fun introducing the species to folks and teaching them how to catch the fish. I love seeing their face light up catching the fish. It seems a lot of people are secretive when it comes to fishing and don’t share what is working. I feel tullibee fishing is the opposite. I have made some of my best friendships from people that were total strangers before we met on the ice tullibee fishing.

We had a church men’s outing where I was calling out depths of fish as they would come in for the anglers to focus on an area in the water column. Another group heard me and said they didn’t have a graph so adjusted accordingly. They started catching fish almost instantly. When I tullibee fish I use two rods rigged similar but with different size spoons/flashers. The weekend before we were catching them 2 feet below the ice with a small spoon, so I started my group on those but very quickly it turned into a large spoon bite. As I informed the group we needed to switch our presentation the other group overheard us. They made the change at the same time resulting in fish for all.

Being neighborly, we asked how fishing was going and if they wanted any fish which they quickly said YES. Many fish were caught that day and so memories were made that will last a lifetime.

Fast forward one weekend and I run into the same group this time I have more time to talk one on one. They informed me they didn’t have a flasher, so I gave them one to use for the day. I also worked with them on how I rig my lines to produce more fish for me and my clients. There is a saying that 90% of anglers catch 10% of the fish and the 10% of anglers that figure it out catch 90% of the fish. Little tips and tricks to these anglers helped them produce more fish and hopefully made memories that will last a lifetime.

Safety is the most important thing in my world and in the past week the ice conditions went from solid to porous and that is a sign that the ice will be changing quickly. It was also getting extremely soft on the shorelines where I sank up to my knee walking through the ditch that held up a side-by-side hours earlier. This time of the year it is important to think ice safety and start wearing your ice pics and bringing a throw in case something bad happens.

This trip might be my last ice fishing trip of the season since I have lots of projects I need to get done before the Lund can get in the water, but I can’t wait to get on the water

Contact Cody today to book a trip that will 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲!

ᴄʜɪʟʟɢᴜɪᴅᴇꜱᴇʀᴠɪᴄᴇ.ᴄᴏᴍ |218-443-3813